Twenty Five

The Malta Independent on Sunday

The PN celebrated Dr. Fenech Adami’s silver anniversary of party leadership.   Indeed it is normal and opportune to celebrate 25 years of anything let alone the holding of such an important position for so long.

“History is generously loaded with examples of political achievers who could not accept the reality that their time was up”

But beyond the emotions involved, what is the true significance of such an event?   As proper, such occasions should serve both for analysis of past performance as well as an assessment of future relevance.

In finance and investment it is emphatically stated that past performance is no guarantee of future success.  The future is very rarely a straight extension of past trend lines.   In politics it is not different.    History is generously loaded with examples of political achievers who could not accept the reality that their time was up; that they have achieved whatever they could and that further achievements require properties and style which are different from their own.   Their holding on regardless often leads to the disassembly of whatever they had succeeded in putting together in the first place.

Fenech Adami’s achievements as a party leader are unchallengeable.   He converted the PN from a detached party of advocates and doctors to a mainstream party which has occupied the majority of the middle ground under his leadership.    The same middle ground that was swelled in numbers by Labour’s achievements of the seventies.  Achievements in eradicating poverty and knitting a social net that ensures a respectable minimum to the right to education, housing and health based on social and not just financial merits.

“When benchmarked against Cyprus and Singapore, under Fenech Adami Malta has lost substantial ground”

 He won, in voting majority terms, four of the five general lections he contested as party leader.  This is as fine a record as anyone could aspire for.

But when judged in terms of his achievement as a statesman as distinct from that of party leader, is his record as enviable?   My judgement is that it is not. History will judge Fenech Adami as the main contributor to the erosion of the nation’s inner strength to be itself with pride and dignity, and to base its existence on the efficient and judicious use of limited resources in order to ensure sound and sustainable economic growth.

What are often termed as economic achievements are the results of reckless spending concepted on the money no problem mentality for which the country is paying an exorbitantly high price in terms of the debt servicing burden it now has to carry.  Economic growth has stalled and as the Governor Bonello emphasised is well below the level needed to progress to EU standards in a reasonable time.  Indeed it is inadequate to maintain the social structure that we already have.

“His continued negation of a financial deficit of monstrous proportions which was engineered under his premiership questions his political honesty.”

 When benchmarked against Cyprus and Singapore, under Fenech Adami Malta has lost substantial ground.   Problems have been avoided rather than addressed.   Short termism has been the hallmark, often writing a cheque from our tax money to buy a politically convenient short term solutions which leaves the underlying problem perfectly not addressed in spite of the burning of so many resources.   The shipyards bear testimony of this irresponsible approach.   The stagnation of tourism development and the failure to build a film industry in spite of our merits are evidence of Malta’s inability, under Fenech Adami’s leadership, to grasp opportunities and to stay ahead of times.

On the political front of statesmanship Fenech Adami has shown great weakness in accepting democracy when the electoral judgement goes against him.   In the three terms when he served as  leader of the opposition he showed clear disregard for the government mandate and did not understand the basic element that the opposition is meant to oppose  not obstruct.

While one can understand his behaviour in the period of 1982-1987 certainly his boycotting of parliament exceeded all democratic limits.    His failure to endorse Alfred Sant’s new non-partisan way of doing politics that was the hallmark of the short Labour government of 1996 –1998, is likely to have prolonged extreme partisanship in Malta’s political scene much longer than it needed to.  His continued negation of a financial deficit of monstrous proportions which was engineered under his premiership questions his political honesty.

“The country needs an election to ensure we don’t continue to waste time”

 And yet again even in the twilight of his political career Fenech Adami is giving further evidence of the lack of statesmanship; that for him it is the party before the country.

By insisting on holding an EU referendum concurrently or before a general election which would have to follow in a matter of months, it is clear that Fenech Adami is using the EU issue to leverage his party’s chances to retain power.

A statesman would accept that the  EU issue should not be a partisan affair, although political parties have their own views.  To ensure that the voters approach it in the national interest and be at liberty to differ from their political party sentiments the referendum should be held after the general election and with some distance away from it to ensure that minds are focussed simply on this issue which could irreversibly change the whole political landscape of this country.

Statesmen make decisions which may be against their own party’s narrow interest, although on a long term wider perspective this is rarely so.    Labour gave a meaning to this when in 1987 they changed the constitution which basically gave the legal administration of the country over to the PN.

It is time for Fenech Adami to feel the need to be remembered for statesmanship and not just for party leadership.  The country needs an election to ensure we don’t continue to waste time.   To ensure that it takes the decisions it responsibly needs and that can only be inspired by a properly mandated government and not by one that promises an easy flow of Lm100 million from the EU which never materialised and never will.